) 63 
)3 
>py 1 




AN APPEAL 



FROM 



Tie AlBBiii of lie Iliiifersity of Alalama 



TO 



TI^^ Ixcgislatare of tl^e State, 



FOR 



AN EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENT OF THE CLAIM 



OF 



THEIR ALMA MATER 



AGAINST 



THE STATE OF ALABAMA, 



BY 



J. H. FITTS, OF Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 
Chairman Alumni Committee. 



BURTON & WEATHERFORD, TUSKALOOSA, ALA. 



AN APPEAL 



FRO 




Tl^ecAlUn^r^i of tt^eUr^iVersity of^laban^a 



TO 



Tl^e Ixegislature of tl^e State, 



FOR 



AN EQUITABLE ADJUSTMENT OF THE CLAIM 



OF. 



^ THEIR ALMA MATER 



AGAINST 



THE STATE OF ALABAMA, 



BY 



J. H. FiTTvS, OF TuscAi^oosA, Alabama, 
Chairman Alumni Committkk, 



BURTON & WEATHERFORD, TUSKALOOSA, ALA. 







GENTLEMEN OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA: 

At the last Annual Commencement of the University of 
Alabama, the Alumni of that institution manifested an unusual 
interest in the affairs of their Alma Mater. Animated by a de- 
sire for the welfare of the University, and with thehope of pro- 
moting its prosperity and usefulness, they diligently inquired 
into its present condition and its past management, to find out 
if possible, the cause or causes which have retarded its growth 
and given rise to general complaint throughout the State. 
Their investigation into the present condition of the Univer- 
sity was heartily welcomed by the Board of Trustees and the 
Faculty of the institution, both of which bodies rendered eve- 
ry assistance for the attainment of the object in view. 

The result of this investigation by the Alumni, Board of 
Trustees, and Faculty, was, that the growth and prosperit}^ of 
the University is now, and has been from its organization, 
hampered and crippled by a want of means, and that its future 
growth and increased usefulness depends entirely upon the en- 
largement of its endowment fund. They are firmly convinced 
that a great University can never be built up or maintained 
with the limited annual income from its endowment of $24,000, 
which is all the Universit}' has been receiving for many years. 
No matter how splendid the buildings and apparatus for teach- 
ing may be, no matter how wise and judicious the Board of 
Trustees may plan and execute, nor how learned and capable 
the Faculty may be, with such a limited income from its en- 
dowment, it is absolutely impossible for the institution to be 
made a really great University, but is doomed to remain what 
it has alwaj^s been — a College or Academic Hall — unless a 
crazy desire for numbers causes it to degenerate into an ele- 
mentary school. The. annual income from endowment last 
year was not sufficient to pay the salaries of the President, 
ProfcvSsors, Teachers, and Officers. Instead of being able to 



add other professional schools, it is now, and has been for 
many 3'ears, a hard struggle with the Board of Trustees to 
maintain on a meagre scale the only two schools — of Law 
and Engineering — which have been established. In the 
year 1890, the New York "Evening Post" published a list of 
all the State Universities in the United States, giving the an- 
nual income of each from its endowment fund. And where 
do you suppose the University of Alabama stood on this list ? 
It stood next to foot; and the university at the foot of the list, 
the only one in the United States with an income less than the 
University of Alabama, had not at that time con\-erted into 
money the lands donated by Congress for its endowment. Deeply 
impressed with the belief that the true cause of the present non 
progressive condition of the University is to be found in its 
limited endowment, and firmly believing that the institution 
has a just and equitable claim against the State, for a large 
amount, which on proper presentation would be recognized by 
all intelligent citizens, the Alumni of the institution have ap- 
pointed a committee of nineteen of their number to present 
that claim to the Legislature of the State, with an earnest ap- 
peal for its adjustment. The Board of Trustees, co-operating 
with the Society of Alumni, have appointed a committee of 
five of their number, for the same purpose, with Hon. W. G. 
Clark, of Mobile, as chairman. In the discharge of my duty 
as chairman of the committee of Alumni, I propose to pre.sent 
the claim of our Alma Mater, and I earnestly beg you to give 
me your close and patient attention, for unless you do you will 
not understand the merits of our claim. 

I feel that I am entitled to this indulgence on your part, ist, 
Because of the difficulty, if not impossibility, of presenting in 
a connected and condensed form the facts and history of this 
claim, extending as it does through a period of seventy-five 
years, and scattered as it is through so many volumes. 2nd, 
Because I am the representative of over two thousand intelli- 
gent, useful, and prominent citizens of the State, who entreat 
you to hear me for their cau.se. 3rd, Becau.se, as the law-mak- 



ers of a great commonwealth, you should full}^ understand the 
nature of this claim , on account of the momentous results to 
the State, in the proper understanding and adjustment of the 
same. 

In my effort to give a true history of this claim, and to pre- 
sent the same intelligently and fairly, I have carefully exam- 
ined and studied all the books of account in the archives of the 
University, all the acts of the General Assembly, and all the 
publications heretofore made on the subject ; and I here make 
acknowledgements for assistance received from addresses made 
by Rev. John W. Pratt, Hon. George D. Shortridge, Gov. 
Henry W. Collier, and Joseph W. Taylor, Esq. To the "His- 
tory of Education in Alabama," by Hon. W. G. Clark, with 
notes by W. S. Wyman, LL. D., I am also indebted. From 
some of these publications, and from an article in the ''Atlanta 
Constitution" of June 15th, 1895, I have obtained valuable 
suggestions, and have, in a few instances, used almost the ex- 
act language of the authors. 

Without further preliminary remarks, I will present the 
claim of the University against the State of Alabama, and shall 
divide the discussion under the following heads : — 

I St. The origin of the University Endowment Fund. 

2nd. The Legislature of Alabama was the Trustee of this 
Fund, 

3rd. The gross negligence in the management of this Fund. 

4th. The misappropriation of the Funds of the University. 

5th. The character of the complaints against the University 
now are the same as they were in 1843 ! the}^ grew out of the 
same cause which produces them now — a total inadequacy of 
endowment. 

6. The loss to the University by gross negligence and mis- 
appropriation of its endowment exceeds the sum of two mil- 
lions of dollars. 

7th. The State is justly liable for the destruction of the 
University property by the Federal Army in 1865. 



8th. The management of the lands granted to the Univer- 
sity by the United States in 1884 contrasted with the manner 
in which the original land grant was managed. 

9th. The condition of receipts and disbursements from the 
second land grant from the United States. 

10, The manner in which the State can repay the Univer- 
sity for this heavy loss, not only without any sacrifice, but 
actually with great profit to her citizens. 

The first branch of this division : 

THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT FUND. 

By the Act of Congress, passed Mch. 2, 18 19, providing for the 
admission of Alabama into the Union, two propositions, among 
others of importance, were submitted for the free acceptance or 
rejection of the Convention of the Territory of Alabama, which 
assembled, by virtue of this Act of Congress, at Huntsville, 
Alabama, on the 5th of July, 1819, to form a Constitution and 
State Government for Alabama. One of these propositions 
was, that the i6th section in every township in the State should 
be granted, in fee simple, to the inhabitants of the township, 
for the use of schools. The other proposition was, that at 
least two entire townships should be devoted to the endow- 
ment of "a seminary of learning." The exact words of the 4th 
section of the act of Congress relating to the grant of these 
lands to the cause of education are as follows : — 

"That thirty-six sections, or one entire township, to be 
designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, under the direc- 
tion of the President of the United States, together with 
the one heretofore reserved for that purpose, shall be re- 
served for the use of a seminary of learning, and vested in the 
legislature of said State to be appropriated solely to the use of 
such seminary by the said legislature." 

The acceptance of this donation of lands, and the implied 
agreement that they should be appropriated solely to the use 
of such seminary of learning by the people of the Territory of 



Alabama, was a condition precedent, prCvScribed in this act by 
Congress, for the admission of Alabama into the Union of 
States. No one can say or believe that Alabama would have 
been allowed by Congress to have become a State at that time, 
if the people of the Territory had refused to accept this 
grant of lands and declined to enter into an agreement 
to execute the sacred trust which the acceptance imposed. 
What was the action of the people of the Territory of 
Alabama in regard to this requirement of Congress, 
before they could be admitted as one of the States ? A 
territorial convention assembled at Huntsville, Alabama, 
on the 5th of July, 1819, to adopt a constitution under 
which the new State was to be organized, and in the con- 
stitution which was adopted by this territorial convention, we 
find the following provisions for the promotion of education: — 

"Schools, and the means of education shall forever be en- 
couraged in this State ; and the General Assembly shall take 
measures to preserve from unnecessary waste or damage, such 
lands as are or hereafter may be granted b}' the United States 
for the use of schools within each township in the State, and 
apply the funds, which may be raised from such lands, in strict 
conformity to the object of such grant. The General Assembly 
shall take like measures for the improvement of such lands as 
have been or may be hereafter granted by the United States to 
this State, for the support of a seminary of learning, and the 
moneys which may be raised from such lands, by rent, lease, 
or sale, or from any other quarter, for the purpose aforesaid, 
shall be and remain a fund for the exclusive support of a State 
university, for the promotion of the arts, literature, and the 
sciences ; and it shall be the duty of the General Assembh^, as 
earh^ as may be, to provide effectual means for the improve- 
ment and permanent security of the funds and endowments of 
such institution." 

The Secretary of the Treasury selected these lands in the 
most fertile sections of the State ; thev were in the followins: 



8 

counties : Autauga, Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Franklin, Greene, 
Lawrence, Monroe, Montgomer}^, Perry, and Slielb\^ and were 
entered on the "ways" as the "Universit}" Lands." 

The mere acceptance of this munificent grant of seventj^-two 
sections of land from the general government, placed upon the 
people of Alabama the highest moral obligation faithfully to 
use the lands in strict compliance with the requirement of Con- 
gress, as stated in the act making the donation, which w^as, 
that they should be ''appropriated solely to the use of a sem- 
in ary of learn ing. ' ' 

Fully recognizing the force and nature of this agreement, 
and fully intending in the utmost good faith to comply to the 
letter with this self-imposed obligation, the people of Alabama 
in convention assembled, solemnly bound themselves to do so, 
by engrafting in the fundamental law^ of the State, that the 
money arising from the sale of these lands should (I quote the 
words of the Constitution of Alabama j ''be and remain a fund 
for the exclusive support of a State University.'' If we exam- 
ine the act of Congress by which these lands were donated, 
and the provision in the Constitution of Alabama for accepting 
the gift, it will be quite evident that 

2. THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA WAS THE TRUSTEE 
OF THIS FUND. 

In them we find ever}" element of a simple trust, expressed 
in the very language used in the creation of private trusts be- 
tween individuals. The United States, or general government, 
was the grantor, the Legislature of Alabama — the representa- 
tives of the State — was the Trustee, and the seminary of 
learning or the University of Alabama, was the beneficiary. 
The inviolate guardianship of this great trust was not in anj^ 
manner constructive, but it was a positive pledge in the most 
solemn form by which the legislature and the people of Ala- 
bama were bound, and according to all rules of morality, all 
laws of honor, and all the dictates of common honesty, the 



State of Alabama should require that solemn pledge to be 
faithfully redeemed. When the legislature converted the 
lands into money, it was still the trustee of the funds, and was 
bound to the same fidelity in the management of the mone}', 
as it was before the sale. The deposit of the funds in bank, 
or its conversion into bank capital for the State, worked no 
change in the character or duties of the legislature; it was a 
trustee still, but in this last case the State became liable for 
the funds thus converted to its own use by the legislature. 
The simple and irresistible conclusion forces itself upon every 
mind, that the Legislature of Alabama was made, by the act 
of Congress and the Constitution of the State, the trustee of 
this grant, and is now and always will be the trustee — and the 
State cannot avoid the responsibilities of this trust by delegat-' 
ing it to a Board of Trustees; it is still the duty of the Legis- 
lature to see that the trust is faithfully executed, that the 
affairs of the University are properl}^ managed ; for the Legis- 
lature of the State is primarily liable as trustee. All the acts 
in reference to this grant passed by the ist, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 
sessions of the Alabama Legislature, provided for the use of 
these lands exclusively for the benefit of the University, the 
Legislature acting simply as a trustee. 

Before passing to the next subdivision of the subject, I desire 
to call your attention to the fact, that the origin of the Univer- 
sity fund, being from the proceeds of the sales of 46,070 69-100 
acres of land donated by the United States, should silence the 
clamor of many throughout the State who suppose the Uni- 
versit}" is supported by taxation, like the Insane As3dum and 
other charitable institutions; and should forever set at rest the 
ignorant cry that the institution is educating the rich at the 
expense of the poor. The fact is that most all the eminent 
graduates of the University came from the humbler walks of 
life. As I shall hereafter show, upon a fair 'and equitable 
statement of the account between the University and the State 
of Alabama, the University has never received one dollar from 
the State, for which she had not previously paid ten times the 



lO 

amount, and that the State is to-day indebted to her University 
in an amount largely in excess of two millions of dollars. 
In adducing testimony to establish my third proposition : 

3. THE GROSS NEGLIGENCE IN THE MANAGEMENT 
OF THIS FUND, 

I shall rely solely upon the acts of the Legislature, and the 
reports made by legislative committees. Out of its own mouth 
is the Legislature condemned, and the proposition established 
bej'ond any controversy. 

The first Legislature of Alabama convened in 18 19, and 
during the session an act w^as passed authorizing the Governor 
to appoint three commissioners in each county, in which was 
situated any of the University lands, and the commissioners 
were autnorized to lease the lands for a period of one year. 
The second General Assembly which met the next year, au- 
thorized the same body to lease said lands for another year. 
At the third session of the Legislature, held in 1821, an act 
providing for a Board of Trustees was passed. This act vested 
all the lands embraced in the Congressional grant in the Board 
of Trustees thus created, of which the Governor of the State 
was, ex -officio^ President. The Board of Trustees was author- 
ized by the act which created it, to sell the lands at the min- 
imum price of seventeen dollars per acre, pa^-able one-fourth 
cash, the balance in four equal annual payments. (See Aiken's 
Digest, 1836, pp. 653-4-5.) This act provided that the Board 
of Trustees might dispose of the lands through agents appoint- 
ed by them, and should receive and invest the proceeds of the 
sales as they might deem best for the interest of the University. 

In 1822, the fourth session of the General Assembly was 
convened, and during this session an act was passed, which 
provided that the lands should be sold at auction, at a price 
not less than $17 per acre, and on terms of one-fourth cash, 
the balance payable in eight equal annual payments. It also 
provided that . at the end of the term of credit, or within three 



II 

years thereafter, the purchaser could surrender his deed and 
convert his purchase into a lease for ninety-nine years, re- 
newable forever, upon condition that he should pay interest at 
the rate of six per cent per annum on the amount he owed. 
The last section of this act here mentioned cost the University, 
up to 1836, over one hundred and forty thousand dollars, as I 
shall presently show. A large number of the purchasers took 
advantage of the University by the provisions of this act. "For 
years the agents failed to collect interest on these leases, and, 
finall}^ the archives of the President's office were broken into, 
and the records of the leases were mutilated — thus rendering 
it impossible to ascertain what lands originally owned by the 
University were held under lease. ' ' 

The first meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Universit}- 
of Alabama was held in Tuscaloosa, in the year 1822. Israel 
Pickens was then Governor. No official investigation was 
made, but it was learned that a considerable portion of this 
property had been sold or leased. In 1823 a much larger pro- 
portion of these lands were sold, some of them bringing as 
high as $60 per acre. 

Before calling your attention to the reports of the Legislative 
committee acknowledging the confusion of the affairs of the 
University and the heavy losses it sustained in consequence of 
this incompetent and hostile legislation I shall present a re- 
markable instance of 

4. THE MISAPPROPKIATION OF THE FUNDS OF THE 
UNIVERSITY. 

At the first session of the Legislature after the State was 
admitted into the Union an act was passed by the General As- 
sembly, entitled an act "To incorporate the Subscribers to the 
Bank of the State of Alabama," which was approved Decem- 
ber 21, 1820. The capital stock was not to exceed two 
millions, two-fifths of which was to be reserved for the State 
and three-fifths to be raised by subscriptions from the citizens 



12 

of the State. Superintendents were named in the act, and 
appointed at each of the following places, to open books of 
subscription to the capital stock, to raise $500,000 ; of which 
amount $105,000 was to be raised at Cahaba, where the bank 
was to be located as long as Cahaba remained the capital of 
the State ; $105,000 was to be raised at Huntsville, $70,000 at 
Claiborne, $50,000 at Tuscaloosa, $50,000 at St. Stephens, 
$30,000 at Courtland, $25,000 at Montgomer}-, and the same 
amount at Mobile, $20,000 at Blakeley, and the same amount 
at Demopolis. There was a provision in this act, that the pub- 
lic money of the State should be deposited in this bank when 
"lying inactive," and that the bank should be organized so 
soon as $100,000 of the subscribed capital stock was paid in 
gold and silver. All efforts to organize a bank under this act 
proved a total failure. The Superintendents all failed to ob- 
tain the prescribed subscriptions. The citizens of the State 
wisel}^ declined to put their individual funds into the State 
banking business, to be managed by politicians; but it seems 
they determined to have a bank, even if the State was requir- 
ed to furnish all the capital. So an act was passed on the 20th 
of December, 1823, entitled "An act to establish the 'State 
Bank of Alabama ' " The capital was not limited to any 
amount, and was to be furnished by the State alone. 

The second section of this act creating "The Bank of the 
State of Alabama" is as follows : 

"The moneys arising, or which may have arisen, from the 
sale or rent of the lands given to the State by the Congress of 
the United States, for the support of a seminary of learning, 
shall form, compose, and constitute a part of the capital of 
said bank ; and the Governor for the time being, together with 
the President and Directors of said bank, or a majority of 
them, shall be authorized and required, for and in behalf of 
the State, and with a pledge of the public faith and credit to 
issue to the trustees of the Uni/ersity of Alabama, State stock 
or certificates of debt, bearing an interest of six per cent, per 
annum, payable half yearly, to the said trustees, or kept sub- 



•13 

ject to their order, according to the law of the State, to the 
amount of such sum or sums as may be, from time to time, 
paid over by said trustees to the President and Directors of 
said bank, the said interest to be forever appHed to the use of 
said seminary." 

Under this act, the amount of University money to be paid 
over as capital for the bank, was limited to one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, but this limitation of the forced loan was annulled 
by an act passed in 1827, and the State was then authorized to 
issue certificates to the trustees for any and all money that 
might be to the credit of the University fund. The Board of 
Trustees were required by these acts to receive from the State 
a six per cent certificate for all money to its credit in bank, 
and the bank was the depository of all the University funds, 
as the University had no treasurer of its own until many years 
afterward. Although in this transaction the fiction of the 
State "borrowing the money" w^as resorted to, to cover the 
real character of the transaction, it was virtually taking all the 
funds of the University to organize a bank which was to pro- 
vide cheap money for its citizens, who had wisely declined to 
invest their individual funds in such a speculative enterprise. 
For several years the State made from 18 to 20 per cent, on 
the University funds, which it converted into bank capital, 
and paid the University six per cent. 

But for the acts of the Legislature themselves, from which I 
have quoted extracts, it would be incredible to any reasonable 
man, that the General Assembly of Alabama could have enact- 
ed such laws for the sale of the lands, and the investment of 
the proceeds arising therefrom. The gross negligence mani- 
fested by such incompetent legislation in thus providing for 
the sale of the lands, and the investment of the proceeds, will 
be more apparent when we consider the object of the trust, 
and the magnitude of the fund committed to the Legislature, 
under the selemn pledge of the State for its protection. The 
46,079 69-100 acres, at the minimum price per acre of $17 



14 

would have brought $783)354- 73. ^^^<^ some of the lands sold 
for as much as $6o per acre. 

OTHER EVIDENCES OF GROSS NEGLIGENCE IN THE 
MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND. 

Instead of placing these lands in the hands of a bonded com- 
missioner for sale, they were sold by seven unbonded agents 
in different parts of the State, under the control of the trustees 
in the different districts. There was no principal office and 
agent to keep a complete set of books and accounts, by which 
alone the actual condition of the affairs of the Universit}^ could 
be ascertained, but each agent was expected to properly keep 
an account of his sales, and depOvSit the proceeds in bank. The 
personnel of the Board of Trustees, from some cause, was so 
frequently changed, that it was almost impossible for that 
body to extend a proper supervision over such a trust fund. 
The members of the Board were elected for three years only, 
and in 1834 there was only one member left of the first Board, 
appointed in 1822. From 1822 to 1833, a period of eleven 
3'ears, the Board had in all forty-three different members. 
The State of confusion into which the lands and the finances 
of the Universit}' were destined to be thrown b}^ such manage- 
ment as this, must have been foreseen by every prudent man. 
Can we imagine that any one would have provided such means 
for the management of his individual affairs ? Such legislation 
indicated a willingness for the conversion of trust funds, or a 
gross ignorance as to the manner in which the}' should be 
managed. In a very few years under this system of manage- 
ment it became evident to everybody, that the affairs of the 
University were in a bad condition, as was shown by the fact, 
that all the agents, except the one at Tuscaloosa, were sus- 
pended by order of the Legislature or the Board of Trustees. 
The General Assembly of 1833-34 appointed a committee to 
look into and report upon the affairs of the University. This 
committee seems to have worked diligently and faithfully to 



15 

have performed this duty, and I here give you an extended 
extract from their report : — 

"Your committee have, so far as the Hmited time allowed 
them would permit, examined the books, papers, and docu 
ments relating to the affairs of the University, from the time 
of its establishment to the present date. No system or method 
has been observed in keeping the accounts of the University, 
nor can your committee discover, from any books or papers 
submitted to their inspection, any means by which to list or 
ascertain with a reasonable amount of certainty, the true sit- 
uation of the accounts of the various persons who have incurr- 
ed responsibilities to the institution. They find on file various 
reports containing accounts of sales of University lands, show- 
ing to whom sold, for what amount, etc. , but in some instances 
these reports have not been recorded, nor have accounts been 
regularly opened with the purchasers of University lands so as 
to show whether the purchase money has been paid or not. 
Bonds for debts due the University have, as appears by some 
of the documents examined by your committee, been placed 
out for collection without any evidence being retained, showing 
the liability of the person who received them. A report made 
by a committee of Trustees during the last summer, and pre- 
pared with great care, shows the fact that $25,309.33 of Uni- 
versity money stands upon the books of the University to the 
credit of certain psrsons who had collected and paid over the 
same, without showing of whom or from what source this sum 
was derived. If the books and accounts of this institution are 
in such condition as to render it impossible to ascertain from 
whom, and from what particular account, this amount was re- 
ceived, it would be difficult to ascertain from them whether all 
persons who have transacted business with and for the institu- 
tion have accounted faithfully or not." 

"Your committee beg leave to submit herewith a cop}^ of the 
report of a committee of the Trustees, showing the situation 
of the accounts and books relating to the business of the Uni- 



i6 

versity." It is as follows: "The interest of the institution 
and the correct management of the liberal fund derived from 
the lands ^'r an ^ed to this State for its endowment^ require that 
something should be done to rescue from confusion and uncer- 
tainty, as far as practicable, the accounts and books of the 
University. To this end, ^'our committee would recommend 
the passage of a joint resolution appointing the Comptroller 
with authority to associate with him some skillful accountant 
and book-keeper, to examine and investigate all accounts and 
reports of the sales of Universit}' lands ; to ascertain to whom 
each particular tract was sold, for what price, the amount re- 
ceived thereon, including principal and interest, etc., and to 
examine into all disbursements made by the Board of Trustees, 
on what account, etc., and to bring up a regular set of books 
showing the full and correct situation of accounts of all persons 
who have had dealings with the institution, or any of its 
agents, and to cause such books to be delivered to the Trus- 
tees at their next meeting. ' ' 

In obedience to this recommendation of the Legislative Com- 
mittee, a committee of Trustees w^ere appointed, and from 
their report to the General Assembly, in January, 1834, the 
following extracts are made : — 

"The committee appointed for the purpose of making out a 
list of all lands that have been sold, belonging to the Univer- 
sity, and the prices at which they sold, the number of acres 
sold, the number of acres unsold, and where they are situated, 
and the debts due the University, etc., submit the following 
sheets as the result of their investigations : So far from being 
aided in their enquiries by any well chosen system for keeping 
the University accounts, they have seen with astonishment 
that the vast concerns of the institution, involving transactions 
of upwards of a million of dollars, have been suffered b}^ accu- 
mulation of undigested reports and other papers, to commence 
and to continue in the most perplexing confusion. The whole 
amount of lands granted to the Ihiiversity was 46,079.69 acres, 



17 

out of which 42,540.27 acres have been reported as sold for 
■ the aggregate sum of $377,680.52, leaving unsold 3,539.46 
acres. 

If it be supposed by any oue that this report is harsh, 
let him go to the books and papers, and a twelve month may 
safely be allowed him before he can, without the aid of those 
documents" (obtained by the committee) "lay his hand on a 
tract of land and say whether it is paid for or not, or if not 
entirely paid for, what amount of principal and interest is due 
thereon. These, in a concern of such magnitude, should all 
appear at a single glance; and yet it is doubtful whether any 
one of the circumstances could be made to appear without the 
aid of other facts than those which the present books and pa- 
pers disclose. Let any one imagine for a moment that the 
whole affair is his, and that is the light in which every trustee 
at least should regard it, what would be his indignation and 
alarm at such irregularity and uncertainty ! The committee 
have not been able, from anything in possession of the Board, 
to report with tolerable certainty the amount of interest bonds 
yet unpaid, or the amount of interest due thereon. This 
arises also from the entire absence of all system in keeping the 
accounts. There is no bond book, or list of bonds, by which 
it could be ascertained when the bonds were made, the names 
of the obligors, when due, the amount, etc. But everything 
is left to abide the direction which chance may give it, or be 
overwhelmed in the great mass of confusion of which each 
particular forms a component part. That which was emphat- 
ically every member's business seems to have been the business 
of no member." 

These reports of the Board of Trustees and of the Legisla- 
tive Committee are quite sufficient to convince the most in- 
credulous of the gross ignorance and culpable mismanagement 
on the part of the State, in the disposition of the University 
lands ; and the manner in which the proceeds of the lands 
sold were guarded, ma}^ be inferred from this loose, unmethod- 



i8 

ical non-book-keeping system. The financial confusion is ex- 
emplified by the fact that at the very time the committee re- 
ported the receipts from land sales as $377,680.52 there had 
been deposited in the Treasury of the State $394, 162.36 as 
shown by the statement of the Comptroller of the State on the 
9th of January, 1834, which I copy in full as a fitting conclu- 
sion to this financial confusion : — 

STATEMENT OF GEO. W- CRABB, COMPTROLLER 
OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. 

Expenditures incurred previous to istjan'y, 1834, $ 4,488.30 

Erecting University buildings and improvements, 105,920.87 

Compensation of prof's, tutors, and other officers, 32,055.68 

Purchase of library, apparatus, etc., - - 13,102.04 

Compensation of Trustees, - - - - 6,412.73 

" " Architect, - - - - 2.851.25 

" " Secretary of Board, etc., - 2,785.00 

" " Treasurer and Comptroller, - 1,300.00 

** " other ag'ts for various purposes, 2,686.34 

Purchase of fuel and hire of servants,' - - 2,555.65 

" land near the University, - - 1,250.00 

" " a servant, ----- 412.00 

" " stationery and furniture, - - 125.50 

Payment for printing done at various times, - 945-74 

*' " recording patents and court costs, - ii4-05 

" " surveying done by order of board, - 100.00 

" " rent of room for use of the board, - 35- 00 

" " unspecified objects, - - - - 916.22 

Refunding overpayments, - . . . 128.63 



Total amount of expenditures, - - $178,185.00 

Am't invested in State stock and transf'd to bank, 215,977.36 



Total am't disbursements from University funds, $394,162.36 

Comptroller's Office, ) (Signed) Geo. W. Crabb, 

January 9, 1834. \ Comptroller Public Acct's. 



19 

Another remarkable instance will now be presented, showing 

4. THE MISAPPROPRIATION OF THE FUNDS 
OF THE UNIVERSITY. 

It seems strange that these reports of the Board of Trustees 
and of the Committee of the General Assembly, in regard to 
the deplorable condition of the affairs of the University, were 
not answered by legislative enactments providing immediate 
relief to the institution; but it is far more incredible that at this 
same session to which these reports were made (on the 17th of 
January, 1834), an act w^as passed by the General Assembly 
for the relief of the pui'chasers of the University lands. By 
the terms of this act, commissioners were appointed to revalue 
the lands of the University which had previously been sold at 
seventeen dollars and upward, and which had been forfeited 
to the University by the failure of the purchasers to meet the 
notes given for the purchase money. Section 5 of this act 
provided, that after the re-valuation had been made by the 
commissioners, and notice given thereof, the holders of the 
certificates of the lands so forfeited and re-valued as aforesaid, 
shall be entitled to have said lands upon their paying to the 
University of Alabama the price affixed (by the commission- 
ers) to said tracts. In all cases where holders of certificates 
(that is, the original purchasers or their assignees) had paid 
one-half of the principal on their tracts, they were entitled to 
take a lease on said lands (for ninety-nine years, renewable 
forever), as provided by the act of 1822. This is the act pre- 
viousl}' spoken of, and w^hich up to this time has cost the Uni- 
versity over a million of dollars. 

Another act for .the relief of the University debtors, entitled 
"x\n Act to regulate the collection of University debts," w^as 
passed January ytli, 1835. The 5th and 6th sections of this 
act are as follows : — 



20 

"5th- When forfeitures have accrued on any lands which 
have under any relief laws, been re-valued, it shall be the duty 
of the agent to adjust the same in the mode prescribed by law; 
and to release and give up any lands, notes, or judgments out- 
standing, and which maj^ be satisfied and discharged by new 
bonds or payments under such relief law or laws. 

"6th. In all cases when judgments have been taken or con- 
fessed in Franklin or any other county, and parties have taken 
the benefit of relief laws and given new bonds or made new 
payments, as provided for by an act approved January- 17th, 
1834, entitled 'An Act for the relief of purchasers of Univer- 
sity lands,' the agent shall dismiss such judgment on payment 
of cost. (Aiken's Digest, 1836, pp. 653, 4, 5,). 

"Another relief law passed at the same session of the Legis- 
lature, allows the purchaser of any tract, or town lots, or their 
bona jide assignees, whose claims have been forfeited by non- 
payment, to pay out the balance due on the same, together with 
all interest due at that time on or before the ist day of June, 
1836, and to receive a patent therefor." — ( Aiken's Digest, 
1836, p. 656.) 

The loss to the University growing out of the relief laws, 
owing to the manner in which the books were kept, was very 
diflficult to be ascertained. Under the Act of 1833-34, the 
Board of Trustees emplo^'ed the Hon. B. F. Porter, an eminent 
lawyer of Tuscaloosa, to prepare a new set of books, from all 
the books, papers, and data he could obtain, in order to pre- 
serve a true record of the financial condition of the institution 
so far as its receipts and disbursements from the original land 
grant, was concerned. 

Judge Porter devoted two years to the work of bringing up 
a set of books, showing the receipts and disbursements on ac- 
count of land sales, and continued in the service of the Board 
two years longer collecting claims on the errors discovered, 
many of which were litigated. The result of his first two 
year's labor is contained in five large folio volumes, now in the 



2J 

archives of the University. For his services, Judge Porter was 
paid by the Board of Trustees over twenty thousand ($20,000) 
dollars. I have carefully examined the set of University books 
prepared by Judge Porter, and I here present a condensed 
statement from them, showing the financial status of the Uni- 
versity on the ist day of November, 1836, and giving his esti- 
mate of the loss to the institution from the relief laws which 
were passed by the I^egislature of Alabama : — 

FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE UNIVKRSITY NOV. I, 1 836, 
BY JUDGK B. F. PORTER. 

Amount derived from sale of lands to date, - $368,740.18 

" bonds for interest on deferred payments, 54,128.95 
" sales of town lots in Tuscaloosa, Monte 

vallo, and Tuscumbia, - - - 13, 975-39 

'* interest on deferred payments for said lots, 1,571.64 

** resale of lands under relief laws, - - - 51,959.01 
" interest on deferred payments on purchases 

under relief laws, . . _ . 4,676.04 



Total from first sale in 1824 to date, - - $495,051.21 

At this date, November i, 1836, Judge Porter classified the 
above as follows : — 

Amount actually collected on land sales, - - - $327,866.24 

" of debts due as principal and interest, 22,945.79 

" of loss from relief laws, for forfeitures, 

resales, leases, etc., - - 144,239.18 



$495,051.21 



According to this estimate, carefully made by an eminent 
lawyer, after two years' study, the University had lost, up to 
November i, 1836, in consequence of laws enacted by the 
Legislature, the sum of $144,239 18. If we take this amount 
as the only claim against the State, and add 6 per cent, deduct- 



22 

ing all loans and so-called donations made to the University by 
the State, the amount due the University' on November ist, 
1896, will largeh' exceed one million of dollars, as the follow- 
ing calculation will show : — 

1836. 

Nov. I. Amount lost by relief laws, forfeitures, re- 
sales, etc. , ----- $144,239.18 
To interest to Nov. i, 1866, at 6 per cent. 

from Nov. i, 1836, 30 years, - - - 259,630.50 



$403,869.68 
Deduct amount used of $70,000 loan, - 30,000.00 



1866. 

Nov. I. Amount due at this date, - - - $373,869.68 
To interest to Nov. i, 1884, 18 years, 403,779.24 



1884. . $777,648.92 

Nov. I. Deduct amount donated bv State, - 60,000.00 



1896. Amount due Nov. i, 1885, - $717,648.92 

Nov. I. To interest due to Nov. i, 1896, 12 3TS., 516,707.22 



Amount due on this claim, Nov. 1,1896, $1,234,356.14 

It will be observed in the above calculation, that the debt 
bears simple interest for 30 years, and then the accumulated 
interest is added, and this new principal then runs t8 years, 
when the interest is again added to form a new principal, 
which runs to date, a period of 12 3-ears, when the interest is 
again added. This calculation favors the State, as no faithful 
trustee would fail to collect the interest on trust funds for such 
long periods of time. 

No fair-minded man can ever dispute the justness of this 
claim, for the Legislature simply took the assets of the Univer- 
sity, and applied them to the financial relief of the citizens of 
the State, and the State is bound by every honorable consid- 
eration to repay every cent. No subsequent legislative man- 



23 

date coercing a compromise with a protesting Board of Trus- 
tees can ever paliate such a monstrous wrong or discharge the 
State from habihty. Nothing but its payment in full can ever 
satisfy the demands of justice ar.d preserve the honor of Ala- 
bama. The people of the State should rise up and unite with 
the Alumni for the payment of this claim because their repre- 
sentative, the Legislature, plead guilt}^ to the charge of gross 
negligence in their authorized agent, when through its own 
committee we hear the confession that ' ' IV/iat was emphat- 
ically every viembers business, seems to have been the business 
of no member.'''' 

I shall hereafter present an estimate made by Col. Francis 
Bugbee, in 1845, which includes other claims than the one 
presented by Hon. B. F. Porter, and one made by myself in 
1895, which embraces the same claims as those made by Judge 
Porter and Col. Bugbee, and in addition one other claim 
against the State. But, treating this subject in a chronolog- 
ical order, I now have reached my 5th subdivision : — 

5. THE CHARACTKK OF THE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE UNI- 
VERSITY NOW, ARE THE SAME AS THEY WERE IN 1843. 
THEY GREW OUT OF THE SAME CAUSE WHICH PRO- 
DUCES THEM NOW — A TOTAL INADEQUACY 
OF ENDOWMENT. 

The condition of affairs now, at the University, are in man}^ 
respects similar to what it was in 1843. The complaints are 
the same, and the remedy suggested by the friends of the Uni- 
versity is the same which the Alumni are now urging and en- 
treating the Legislature to adopt. 

In order to prove these assertions, let me give 3"ou some ex- 
tracts from reports made that year by the Board of Trustees, 
the Faculty of the University, and the Educational Committee 
of the General Assembly. Extract from the 

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES TO THE 
LEGISLATURE IN 1 843. 

"The Trustees deeply regret to mark the prevalence of mis- 



24 

apprehension and distrust with regard to an institution which 
should be, and must be, cherished in the affections of every 
intelligent and honorable mind. It is sometimes said, and 
perhaps believed, that the University is supported by the hard 
earnings of the poor for the benefit of the rich. It would be 
the extreme of charity to attribute such an assertion to igno- 
rance. So far from the State having contributed to the sup- 
port of the University as yet, it is unquestionable that the 
State has been, or ought to have been, largely profited ; from 
the fact that, while the bank pays to the University six per 
cent, on its fund, this fund is a portion of the active capital of 
the bank, not as a deposit^ but as a banking basis." 

The Board, in this report, reviews the financial condition 
thus : — 

"The sale of all the University land was effected some years 
since, and the available proceeds of such sales have now all 
been collected and paid into bank, with the exception of a 
small amount, part of which is properly secured and a part is 
still in suit. 

"The aggregate amount of the original sale would not be 
greatly short of half a million of dollars. The abundant en- 
dowment by the liberality of the general government has, how'- 
ever, been greatly reduced by legislation, which relinquishes 
upwards of a hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the pur- 
chasers of University lands, through the operation of relief 
laws (parts of w^hich have been quoted), by the heavy losses 
sustained in the insolvency of debtors, and by a course of 
irregular and wasteful management of the affairs of the Uni- 
versity. 

"The moneys accruing from the sale of lands were directed, 
by law, to be paid into the bank of the State, to become a por- 
tion of the capital of the bank, and a permanent fund for the 
University, which was not to be encroached upon. Before this 
fund was available, the Legislature authorized a loan by the 
bank to the Universitv, of a sum sufficient for the erection of 



25 

the necessary buildings, to put into operation, as soon as pos- 
sible, an institution of learning. In pursuance of this author- 
ity, the sum of $64,500 was procured from the bank by the 
University at different times from 1829 to 1833. The entire 
amount of the University fund, after the losses and deductions 
above referred to, which is invested in stock of the bank of the 
State, is now (1843) $300,000, upon which a dividend of six 
per cent annually is declared. 

"The Trustees are decidedly of the opinion that it will be 
wholly impracticable with a diminished capital stock, upon 
dividends of six per cent. , to sustain an institution of that high 
and respectable grade which alone would be adequate to meet 
the wants and expectations of an enlightened public opinion, 
and which could afford to our youth that liberal and thorough 
education which the people of Alabama know so well how to 
appreciate ; and which they will undoubtedly in the exercise 
of their own high virtue and patriotism, secure for their sons, 
even if they should be driven to seek it in other States and 
uncongenial climes, ' ' 

The report of the Board of Trustees from which the above 
are extracts, was referred by the Legislature to the Educa- 
tional Committee of the General Assembly, which committee, 
in the faithful discharge of its duty, investigating the affairs 
of the Universit3% addressed a communication to the Faculty 
of the University, asking, "If the University was in such con- 
dition as could be reasonably expected from its liberal endow- 
ment?" "And also enquiring, what is the condition of the 
University, when compared with similar institutions in the 
United States?" 

The Reply of the Faculty to the Communication of the Edu- 
cational Committee of the General Assembly of 1843, was 
written by Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, D. D., S. T. 
D., LL. D., and D. C. E. This distinguished scholar and 
world renowned Educator, was then, a profes.sor in our Uni- 
versity, in which position he spent seventeen years of his valu- 



26 

able life, and I make no apology for quoting this reply of the 
facnlt}^ in full, showing as it doi-s, the manner in which this 
institution has been treated by the State, answering the com- 
plaints then being made against the Universit}^ presenting the 
remedy if the complaints are well founded, and giving as a 
clear and comprehensive view of the mission and purpose of a 
realh^ great Universit}-. For when the author of this report, 
was afterwards chosen as the President of Columbia College, 
New York, he found it a mere academic hall, like our Univer- 
sity, and he left at his death, a truly great University with its 
hundred teachers. 

Had Alabama listened to his w^se counsel and furnished the 
means which justly belonged to this "seminary of learning," 
her Universit}'- to-day w^ould be the rival of Columbia Univer- 
sity. The opinion of such a man should have great weight 
with all intelligent men. From his repl^^ we will j5ee that he 
prescribes the remedy for the same complaints in 1843, which 
are being made to-day against the University, and ascribes the 
cause of these complaints to an ignorance of the real mission of 
a University, and to the mismanagement of the funds of the 
Legislature. 

Answering the question of the Educational Committee, that 
the University zvas not in such a condition as could be reason- 
ably expected from its liberal endowment; he then, adds: 

(the faculty's reply to the educational 
committee of the general assembly. ) 

"Might not the people of the United States, to whose muni- 
ficence it owes every dollar of its means, in reason have ex- 
pected that the Legislature of the State of Alabama, w^ould 
carefully guard the fund committed to that body in trust for 
the education of its own people? Might they not have reason- 
ably anticipated that, in case that the Legislature should de- 
cree to discharge the debtors to that fund from their obliga- 
tions, they would have felt bound in justice and honor to as- 



27 

sume those obligations themselves ? Yet they have annulled 
the obligations of the debtors to the University; they have in- 
vaded the sacred principle of the inviolability of contracts- the}^ 
have scattered to the winds one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars of a donation committed to them as a sacred trusty and 
they have not offered in any manner or form, to restore the 
sum which was not theirs, and w^hich they had no right to 
diminish by a single dollar. 

"What is the condition of this University, when compared 
with similar institutions in the United States?" 

This was one of the questions asked the Faculty of the 
University by the Legislative Educational Committeee in 1843, 
and I give their reply written b}- Dr. Barnard, to those who are 
now asking the same question. 

"If it be compared with other colleges, the oldest in the 
country, in regard to its course of study, it will be found to 
attempt nearly or quite as much as any; and if it be compared 
with w^hat it actually accomplishes, as exhibited in the average 
attainments of its students, tried by any test, it will be found 
scarcely behind in performance. 

In comparing institutions of learning with the view to deter- 
mine their relative grades of excellence, different individuals 
may draw their inferences from different criteria. By one a 
given college may be rated as superior to another, because, at 
a given time, it numbers twice as many students. The next 
inquirer may rate it as vastl}^ lower in scale, because on ex- 
amination it appears to teach not half so much nor half 
so well. 

One man may have his judgment, not on what the college 
can accomplish within itself, but also on the collateral advan- 
tages its students may enjoy, by having access to munificent 
libraries, and splendid apparatuin Another may be biased by 
the consideration of an ancient and venerable name, and an- 
other still by the fact that the s udies which are favorites with 
them are more carefully taught in one institution than they 



^2S 

may happen to be taught in those which are regarded as its 
competitors or rivals. 

Among these various methods by which we judge of the 
comparative merits of different institutions of learning, in the 
opinion of the Faculty there is one thing which should out- 
weigh all other considerations. And this one in their opinion 
is the care and thoroughness which young men are taught in 
all those departments of knowledge, which, by the common 
consent of the civilized world, ought to constitute the substra 
turn of education to every lettered man. Apply this test to 
the "University of Alabama, the Faculty fear no comparison 
with any college in the country." There are those, however, 
who cry out that a college is unprosperous unless it is over- 
run with numbers. Numbers are indeed desirable in ever}' 
such institution; but they are not by any means desirable if by 
their presence, they break down its character, and reduce it 
from the standing of a college to the grade of an elementary 
school. The University of Alabama has a peculiar, specific, 
and a very difficult function to fulfill. Though it belongs to 
this institution, indeed, to educate the youth of the State so 
far as they ma}- be sent here for the purpose of education; yet 
a responsibility more difficult still rests upon it. It belongs to 
the University to elevate the standard of education among this 
great people to something like respectibility and keep it there. 
It has been said of its Faculty that they require a young man 
to be educated already, before they deem him competent to 
join one of the college classes. This simple observation is 
sufficient, if rightly understood, to show the benefit, which the 
University is indirectly conferring on the State. The very 
moderate requisitions for admi.ssion to the University are noto- 
rious. These requisitions will be found appended to the cata- 
logue, of which a catalogue has already been submitted. And 
to comply with these is, at this moment, regarded by some as 
being educated in advance. Yet such an amount of education, 
the Faculty of the University, have and will insist, that all 
candidates for admission to the college shall have first pa.ssed 



29 

through. They exact no more than the Faculties of other col- 
leges; but by steadily exacting this, they will in due time 
make it possible for young men everywhere, throughout the 
State to acquire those rudiments of knowledge, which it is not 
their business to impart. It is a principle infallible, in every 
human interest, that where there is a demand there will be a 
supply. By what means the primary schools of the State of 
Alabama are to be improved and multiplied and made respecta- 
ble in character and in numbers, it is not a part of the present 
purpose of the Faculty to discuss. But that they will be so 
improved and multiplied and elevated, is inevitable; and that 
the necessity of passing through some preparation on the part 
of the candidate for admission to the University, is to 
constitute a steadily acting impulse urging on their im- 
provement, is equally certain. Great numbers constitute, 
in general, the most trifling and shadowy and insignificant 
evidence of excellence in a school, which can be ad- 
duced. And if a seminary is young and is situated in a 
new country and nominally exacts some slight intellectual 
training as the condition in membership, great numbers sud- 
denl}^ collected furnish a very ominous indication as to the 
fidelity of its administration. It happened some fifteen or 
twenty years ago that in the opening up in Vermont a military 
school, nominally on the plan of that of West Point. Great 
numbers enrolled themselves among its members. So popular 
did the institution become that it was proposed to remove it to 
some more accessible position. The people of Middletown, 
Connecticut, successfully urged its transfer to that city. They 
were stimulated to erect buildings for its accommodation, and 
to provide the conveniences to facilitate its operations. It was 
removed. A branch seminary continued to be conducted on 
the original site. So generally pleasing to the people appear- 
ed the idea of intermingling the interests of Mars and Minerva, 
that the first originator of the plan began to project a great 
system of military schools to extend itself over the whole 
country, and of which he should be the general director and 



30 

chief. The number of young men collected together in a short 
space of time at Middletown was wholly unprecedented in the 
history of American colleges or academies. Yet did the mili- 
tary academy, therefore, flourish? B}^ no manner of means. 
It sought for numbers and obtained them, but in so doing it 
pursued a policy most destructive and suicidal. Its character 
deteriorated until it fell far below common respectability. In 
disgust it was abandoned by its patrons, and in a very few 
years the noble edifices erected by the citizens of Middletown to 
accommodate an institution which they believed was to live 
through all time, were absolutely without a tenant. In fact, 
in judging of the prosperity of an institution of learning, the 
test of numbers is the most fallacious test which can be adopt- 
ed. Character is the object at which every such institution 
should first aim, regardless of the effect which its efforts to 
attain this kind of respectability may temporarily exert upon 
the fulness of its catalogue of students. The Faculty of Yale 
College, responding to an inquir}' proposed to them by the 
Board of Trustees, as to the course of education then pre- 
scribed and insisted upon, have some pertinent observations 
on this very point. They use this language : "It is a hazard- 
ous experiment to act upon the plan of gaining numbers first 
and character afterwards." 

The proposition is so obviously true, that it might almost be 
stated as an axiom. That a certain kind of increase in num- 
bers of the Universit}', however, may fairly be regarded as an 
evidence of its increasing prosperit}', the Faculty would not 
undertake to deny. But they assert that a healthy increase 
can only be gradual. For fifty years from its foundation, the 
University of Harvard graduated annually, on an average, 
fewer than seven individuals. For twenty years the average 
number of graduates at Yale College was but about five. 

The demand for a high order of education among the people 
is neither great or general. Yet such a demand, to a certain 
extent, exists among every civilized people, and it is by com- 



31 

plying with it and providing for it, that the means are suppHed 
for furnishing that more com non and absohitely necessar}^ 
kind of instruction, which the vvhole population require. If 
such a college prepare, every year, but a few men to instruct 
others, the immediate fruit of its operations may seem, indeed, 
to be small; but through those same men it is still to operate 
through a long series of years, and to carry the benefits of 
knowledge to hundreds and thousands. Thus no error can be 
more gross, than that of asserting that a college ought not to 
stand, because it furnishes an education of a higher order than 
the mass of the people are ready to receive. How are the peo- 
ple ever to be made ripe for learned institutions, but b}^ first 
preparing the teachers who are to diffuse among them the 
elements of knowledge ? The streams which flow into the 
ocean are fed by the evaporation of the ocean itself. And the 
students who throng the halls of colleges, are brought there b}^ 
the learning which, silently as the vapor rises from the sea, 
these colleges have scattered through the land. 

Of those who desire instruction that they may teach in 
towns, the majority are unable to obtain such an education 
abroad. They belong to a class of students whose means are 
limited and who cannot undertake distant journeys or meet 
the charges of the colleges of the East." 

"The University of Alabama is among the least expensive 
colleges in this country. The Faculty therefore, feel justified 
in sa3^ing that, tried by whatsoever test the committee may 
choose. to prescribe the University is in a prosperous condition, 
and that it favorably compares ^vith similar institutions in the 
United States." 

HOW TO JUDGE THE VALUE OF A UNIVERSITV. 

"Of the value of a University there are two ways of judg- 
ing. The first con.sists in the a spectability of its graduates as 
scholars, of which the commun* ty at large must judge from 
the general intelligence which such graduates exhibit, but of 



3? 

which, only the better educated can form accurate opinions. 
The second method is b}* an actual visitation and devotion of 
some time and attention to the process of daily instruction. 
There are always to be found in 'ooth branches of the Legisla- 
ture, men whose opinion on a subject like this would command 
the confidence of the people of the State. The Faculty invite 
investigation of this kind. Let ^here be annually appointed a 
committee of the Legislature for the purpose of visitation and 
examination of this L'niversity. Let them plan for themselves 
an}' mode of conducting these inquiries which may seem search- 
ing and efificient. Visit the classes and see them as they daily 
appear, and are taught in the class-room, and then with truth 
before the people of Alabama, her citizens will disregard false 
rumors and interested slanders which decry their University. 
The Faculty ask to be judged in this manner and are willing 
to stand or fall by such a test." 

Thus ends the reply made by the learned Dr. Barnard. 

THE EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

OF 1843-4 KECOMMEND A SETTLEMENT ON 

EQUITABLE PRINCIPLES. 

The Committee of the General Assembly, on Education, to 
whom the annual report of the Board of Trustees had been 
referred, after making a thorough examination into the affairs 
of the University, made their report to the Legislature, from 
which the following extracts are taken : 

"From the report of the Trustees, the committee learn that 
the financial affairs of the Institution are not in so prosperous 
a condition as could be desired. It would seem that there 
have been expenditures made which trench upon the capital 
stock, contrary to the radical laws for the government of the 
fund. This is attributable in part to legislative enactments, 
by which the purchasers of University lands have been relieved 
from their contracts, to the manifest detriment of the Institu- 
tion, and it now rests with the General Assembly to adjust a 



33 

settlement between the University and the State Bank, upon 
such equitable principles as may seem just and proper." 

From this liberal endowment by the United States, the State 
University might, and should, now, have in possession at least 
a half a million dollars in some safe and secure investment. It 
might reasonably be expected to possess a Library, which 
would compare wnth that of older institutions, older, but much 
poorer colleges. The German Universities with 300,000 vol- 
umes already in their libraries appropriate, annually, several 
thousand dollars for the purchase of new publications. An 
annual sum should be devoted to this purpose. The officers of 
such an Institution are expected to be encyclopaedias of science, 
walking lexicons of letters, and animated folios of statistics." 
With a meagre and insignificant librar}', which contains not 
one in 50 of the great and valuable works of reference, this is 
impossible. People often entertain singular ideas of the pur- 
pose and aim of a great public library. It should furnish the 
means of stud}^, not so much the means of reading, as the 
means of studying. A college officer wishes to present to his 
class, when lecturing upon any subject, a summary of knowl- 
edge which all other enquirers have collected, and ma}^ con- 
sult 100 volumes in a day, without reading a single one." 

The Legislative Committee, in 1843-4, recommended an 
adjustment of accounts between the University and the State 
Bank upon such equitable principles as may seem just and 
proper. This recommendation of this committee was acted oh, 
in 1848, but we shall see when we review the transactions of 
that year, that the settlement was not upon equitable princi- 
ples, but was a one-sided bargain, the terms of w^hich were 
dictated and enforced by the doctrine of State sovereignty, as 
the University could not contest in the courts of the country 
the claims which it was forced to relinquish. 

The fact that there was no legal tribunal to which the Uni- 
versity could appeal for its rights, should have been the most 
cogent reason for a fair and equitable settlement. 



34 

JUDGE THE UNIVEHSITY BY THE ONLY PROPER TESTS. 

We ask you to judge your University of to-day by the tests 
given by this world renowned Educator whose biography 
"when written by some scientist whose breadth of erudition 
shall equal his own" will embrace, to a great extent, the his- 
tory and progress of Education during his life. Judge your 
University by the first test mentioned — the respectability of its 
graduates. What would Alabama have been without them ? 
In the halls of Congress, in the chambers of the General As- 
sembly, inspiring the Pulpit, adorning the Bench. Bar and the 
Medical Profession, in all the varied walks of business life — 
and notably in the grand and noble army of teachers, the 
Alumni of the University are found, serving their State and 
generation, both in peace and war, -with intelligence, devotion 
and honor ; repaying manifold the benefits that the State, 
through the University has conferred on them. Among the 
number of her graduates let me call your attention to the fol 
lowing : In the first decade, 183 1- 1840, we have : 

Wm. Woolsey King. Jurist, of New Orleans. 

Robert B. McMullen. D. D., Presbyterian Divine and Col- 
lege President. 

Alexander B. Meek. Orator. Historian. Statesman. Founder 
of the Public School System of Alabama. 

Jere Clemens, Author, Orator, Statesman. I'. vS. vSenator. 

George D. Shortridge, Jurist and Statesman. 

Clement C. Clay, Statesman. U. S. Senator. 

Wm. R. Smith, Lawyer, Statesman, Poet, U. S. Congress- 
man, College President. 

Leroy P. Walker, Statesman and Jurist. 

M. Augustus Baldwin, Attorney General. Alabama, for 27 
years, 1838-1865. 

Franklin W. Bowden, Lawyer aud Congressman. 

Oran ^L Roberts. Governor of Texas, Jurist, Chief Justice 
of Supreme Court of Texas, Prof, of Law in I'niver.sity of 
Texas. Author. 



35 

Joshua Hill P'oster, Baptist Divine, College President and 
Professor. 

James D. Webb, Statesman and Lawyer. 

Louis Maxwell Stone, Statesman and Lawyer. 

In the second decade — 1840- 1850, we have : 

Eldred B. Teague, D. D., Baptist Divine and College 
President. 

Basil Manly, D. D. LL- D., Baptist Divine, College Presi- 
dent, Theological Professor. 

W. C. Richardson, Ph. D., College Professor, Author and 
Poet. 

M. L. Stansel, Jurist and Statesman. 

Wm. Henry Forney, Jurist and Statesman, U. S. Congress- 
man. 

Robert S. Gould, LL. D., Jurist, Statesman, Justice of 
Texas Supreme Court, now Senior Professor of Law, Univer- 
sit}' of Texas. 

John W. Pratt, D. D., Presbyterian Divine, College Presi- 
dent and Professor. 

Wilson G. Richardson, Presbyterian Divine, College 
Professor. 

John Little Smith, Jurist and StatevSman. 

La-Fayette Guild, A. M., M. D. , Medical Director, Army 
Northern Virginia. 

B. F. Saffold, Justice, Alabama vSupreme Court, 

A. J. Battle, D. D., LL. D., Baptist Divine, College Presi- 
dent and Professor. 

Thos. H. Herndon, Jurist, Statesman, U. S. Congres.sman. 

George W. Price, D. D., Methodist Divine, College Presi- 
dent and Professor. 

John Moore, Lawyer and Jurist. 

John Francis, Clergyman, Editor and College Professor. 

Hampton S. Whitfield, Attorney and College Professor. 

James K. Armstrong, College President and Professor. 

Charles Francis Henry, Surgeon Russian Armv, Crimean 
War. 



36 

Leonidas Martin, U. S. Counsel. 

L. V. B. Martin, Lawyer, U. S. District Attorne3^ 

Alberto Martin, Lawyer. 

Samuel Mills Meek, Lawyer, Orator, District Attorney. 

In the third decade, 1850-1860, w^e have : 

Jonathan Haralson, Lawyer, Justice Supreme Court of 
Alabama. 

Wm. S. Wyman, LL. D., College Professor. 

Robert K. Hargrove, D. D., LL- D., Methodist Divine, 
Bishop of M. E. Church South. 

W. C. Cleveland, D. D., Baptist Divine. 

George Little, Ph. D., of Berlin University, College Pro- 
fessor, State Geologist of Mississippi and of Georgia. 

Charles Manly, D.D., LL- D.. Baptist Divine, College Presi- 
dent. 

A. C. Hargrove. LL. B. (Harvard) Lawyer and Statesman. 
H. M. Somerville, LL. D., JournaHst. Lawyer, College 

Professor, Justice Supreme Court of Alabama, Trustee of 
Peabody Fund, Judge U. S. Board of Custom House Apprais- 
ers, New York. 

B. B. Lewis, LL. D., Jurist. Congre.ssman, College Pre.si- 
dent and Professor. 

W. J. Vaughan, LL. D., College Profes.sor, now of Vander- 
bilt University. 

Wm. H. Saunders, M. D., Surgeon and President of Medi- 
cal Board of Alabama. 

Ed'w Q. Thornton, Scientist, Geologist of A. and M. Col- 
lege at Auburn, Ala. 

Taul Bradford, Lawyer and Congressman. 

B. F. Meek, LL. D., College Profes.sor. 

R. H. Cobbs, D. D., Episcopal Divine. 

Reuben R. Gaines, LL^ D., Justice Supreme Court of Texas. 

John Mason Martin, Congressman, Lawyer and Professor. 

Newton N. Clements, Speaker House of Representatives, 
Congres.sman. 



37 

Edward Freeman Comegys, Teacher and Professor. 

James E- Webb, Lawyer. 

Samuel S. Harris, D. D., LL. D., Episcopal Divine and 
Bishop of Michigan, Author. 

R. C. Jones, LL. D., Jurist, College President and Professor 
of Law. 

J. T. Searcy, M. D., Physician and Superintendent of Ala- 
bama Bryce Insane Hospital. 

In the fourth decade, 1 860-1 870, we have : 

H. Austin, Lawyer, Judge and Chancellor. 

Geo. W. Clark, Jurist, Attorney General of Texas. 

Richard H. Clark, Jurist, Statesman,' Congressman. 

John Massey, LL.D., College President and Professor. 

Sol. Palmer, LL. D., Methodist Divine, College President 
and Professor, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Eugene A. Smith, Ph. D., of Heidelburg, Scientist, College 
Professor and State Geologist. 

W. S. Thorington, Judge, Supreme Court of Alabama. 

Wm. Augustus Walker, Lawyer. 

John D.Roquemore, Commissioned to codify Statutes of State 
of Alabama. 

In the fifth decade, 1870-1880, we have : 

T. C. McCorvey, College Professor and Author. 

T. K. Powers, College President and Professor. 

F. S- Moody, Jurist and Statesman. 

B. Leon Wyman, M. D., Surgeon and College Professor. 

Henry D. Clayton, Lawyer and Statesman, U. S. District 
Attorney. 

Clement C. Shorter, Speaker of House of Representatives of 
Alabama and Lawyer. 

Jesse F. Stallings, Lawyer and Congressman. 

Chappell Cory, Lawyer and Journalist. 

Samuel Minturn Peck, Physician and Poet. 

In the sixth decade, 1880- 1890, we have : 

George F. Mellen, Ph. D., of Leipsic University, College 
Professor. 



38 

T. Morgan Clements, Ph. D., of Leipsic University, Pro- 
fessor of University of Wisconsin. 

To this long list should be added many names of prominent 
distinction in business affairs who have reflected credit upon 
the State b}- their enterprise and energ}-. 

Even under the cruel treatment of an unnatural step mother 
the Universit}^ has brought forth sons, who are the peers of 
those nurtured by the foremost institutions of the United 
States, and who have reflected honor upon the State, and has 
added hundreds of intelligent, valuable citizens to the pursuits 
of business life, where^ achievements in life have largely in- 
creased the wealth and prosperity of the State. 

Tr}' your University by the other test mentioned by the 
learned Educator, Dr. Barnard. Send your committees to en- 
quire into every department — what is taught, and how it is 
taught — and what discipline is enforced. Correct any and all 
defects, discharge all incompetent officers and teachers, but do 
not judge and condemn your University upon the general 
complaint "that something is wrong" whispered by interested 
parties, or by the bitter denunciations of those who are opposed 
to the Military System, nor by the exagerated misrepresenta- 
tions of outspoken active enemies. Adopt the most searching 
investigation, and it will be hailed with delight by the officers 
and every member of the Faculty, who are willing to stand or 
fall by this proper test. 

These investigations and reports made in 1843-44, were fol- 
lowed by the appointment, by the Board of Trustees, of Col. 
Francis Bugbee, of Montgomery, who was then an active, 
zealous Trustee, and who served in that capacity over thirty- 
two years, and was one of the few devoted friends of the Uni- 
versity, to examine carefully into the financial condition, the 
status of the lands granted by Congress, the income and ex- 
penditures and the bank indebtedness. Col. Bugbee prepared 
"an exceedingly able report, minute in detail and complete in 
statement," which was embodied in the report made by the 



39 

Board of Trustees to the Legislature in 1845-46, and published 
by order of that body. See Garrett's Public Men of Alabama, 
page 360. I here present from that report : 

THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE UNIVERSITY IN 1 845. 

Amount invested in 6 per cent. State Stock, - $ 300,000.00 
Cash in Bank to the credit of the University, - 11,553.01 



$3ii,553-0] 



Loss to the University from relief laws, (from 

Porter's Report,) ----- $144,239.18 
Interest for 3 years at 6 per cent, _ _ _ 25,963.05 

Profits made by the Bank over 6 per cent, on 

University funds previous to 1837, - - $ 108,962.00 



Due the University from the State, - - $279,164.23 
Deduct notes of the University held by Bank, - 64,500.00 



Balance due the University, - - - _ $214,664.23 

If we should adopt this estimate made by Col. Bugbee, as 
the correct amount of the loss of the University in 1845, and 
charge 6 per cent, interest on the amount, allowing as a credit 
the $30,000.00 loan in 1866-67, ^^^^ the $60,000.00 donation 
in 1884, the present indebtedness of the State to the Univer- 
sity of Alabama would be $ 1,478,733.65. 

AN ARBITRARY SETTLEMENT BY THE STATE WITH THE 
UNIVERSITY UNDEK PROTEST. 

In February, 1848, an act was passed by the General Assem- 
bly entitled an act "To liquidate and settle the accounts be- 
tween the University and the State of Alabama and for other 
purposes." An examination of the act will convince an}' one, 
that there was no estimate made of the loss to the University 
by the relief laws. It was simpl}' a settlement of the account 
with the Bank, and arbitrarially reducing the debt due the 



40 

University, from 5300,000,00 to $250,000.00 and then pledg- 
ing the credit of the State for the punctual payment of interest 
on this latter amount, upon the condition, that the Trustees 
would rehnquish all other claims of the University. I here 
quote the first two sections of this act : 

Section i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of 
Alabama^ That the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Thou- 
sand Dollars be, and the same is hereby recognized and de- 
clared to be the amount of the University fund, for the perma- 
nent security of which, and the punctual pa^inent of the in- 
terest thereon forever, at the rate of six per cent, per annum, 
the faith and credit of the State of Alabama are hereby solemn- 
ly pledged. 

Section 2. ''Be it further enacted^ That all notes held by 
the State of Alabama against the Trustees of the University 
of Alabama be. and the same are hereby, authorized and re- 
quired to be delivered up to the said Trustees ; which notes 
when received b}' said Trustees, shall be considered and taken 
in full payment and satisfaction of all claims which said Trus- 
tees may have, or pretend to have, against the State of Ala- 
bama for interest, damages, or losses sustained, of even.* kind 
or description whatever, up to the date of this October, and 
said Trustees shall therefore file in the ofl5ce of the Secretary,' 
of the State a written relinquishment on their part on all 
claims against the State. ' ' 

In the language of that eminent scholar, W.S. Wyman, LL. 
D. : "This act is the last attempt of the Legislature of Alabama 
to play the part of the unjust step-mother to an institution 
solemnly entrusted to its guardianship and protecting care, by 
the act for the admission of Alabama to the Union." I will 
add that I have been hearing and reading of the cruel acts of 
step-mothers for the last fifty years, and I do not believe that 
all the acts of all the step-mothers in a thou.sand years, could 
equal this single act of Alabama in the enormity of its injustice 
and dishonesty. Jnst think of it : when the University was 



41 

struggling for a bare existence, when threats of repudiating 
the University debt were being made, and the policy of doing 
so strongly advocated by some, that the I^egislature of Ala- 
bama, sympathizing with such a sentiment, should make the 
then helpless condition of her only University the means of 
perpetrating such an outrage. Forcing the Board of Trustees, 
appointed by the State, to guard the interest of the University, 
to relinquish all claims, of every description, for money un- 
justly given by the State to the purchasers of the University 
lands, in order to obtain a part of the funds justly due the 
University, and which the State had used "for the benefit of 
the community" in providing a Bank to furnish cheap money 
to her citizens ; who had wisely declined to organize the Bank 
with their individual funds. 

The Board of Trustees were compelled to acquiesce in this 
forced settlement, or to close the doors of the University, as 
they had no other means of maintaining the institution. Had 
the Trustees to have rejected this forced compromise and to 
have closed the institution, they could not have litigated their 
claims in the Courts ; the State could not have been sued for 
damages or on any account. After recording their solemn 
protest against this forced method of settlement, as being un- 
just to the institution, finally by ordinance adopted July 13, 
1 848, they acquiesced in the terms of this iniquitious settlement, 
and on the same day disolved all financial relations with the 
State as far as they could by electing Henry A. Snow, Esq., 
as Treasurer of the University. Col. Robert Jemison, Jr., for 
seventeen years a State Senator, has frequently told me that 
when the Trustees acquiesced in this forced compromise, under 
protest, by which the University was compelled to receive 
$250,000.00, as a full settlement of all claims against the State, 
that the grand old Roman, Col. Isham W. Garrott, who was 
killed at Vicksburg, being then a Trustee, denounced the set- 
tlement as an "ungodly robber}'." I have also often heard 
Col. Jemison say, that at the time of this settlement, the State 
was justly indebted to the University over one million of dol- 



42 

lars ; and his opportunity and ability to know the equities of 
the account was equal to if not superior to that of any man 
in the State, as he served for many years on the committee of 
Ways and Means. In this transaction, the State attempted to 
do what one of England's greatest statesmen says no man can 
do, "mortgage his injustice as a pawn for his fidelity." 

Last year, "The Atlanta Constitution," in its issue of. June 
1 6, published an extended review of the history of the Uni- 
versity of Alabama, and it described the effect of this act of 
Legislature in 1848, on the finances of the institution as 
follows : 

"The effect of this act was, and has been to rob the Uni- 
versity of $276,217.24, and the State is to-day by every rule of 
fairness and honesty indebted to the University in that 
amount, with interest for seventy-five years, minus a credit of 
$50,000.00 in i860, in the shape of an increase in the acknowl- 
edged interest bearing indebtedness, $30,000.00 in 1865, and 
$60,000.00 in 1883, with interest on these amounts." 

B}^ computing simple interest on these amounts and striking 
a balance, it will be seen that the State owes the University, 
outside of the $300,000.00 on which it now pays interest, a 
net and equitable debt of $1,414,033.84 ! Twelve years after 
the perpetration of this great wrong to the University, in the 
year i860, the Legislature acknowledged the injustice of this 
settlement, by increasing the endowment fund from $250,- 
000.00 to $300,000.00, under the incentive to engraft a milita- 
ry department upon the institution. 

THE LEGISLATIVE FOSTERING CARE OF THE AGRICULTURAL 

AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF ALABAMA, COMPARED 

WITH THE MANNER IN WHICH THE STATE HAS 

REDEEMED HER PLEDGE TO PROTECT 

THE FUND OF THE UNIVERSITY. 

Gentlemen of the General Assembly, we ask you to compare 
this treatment of the State University, with that which 



43 

the Agricultural and Mechanical College of your State has 
received. 

The Legislature of the State has carefull)^ guarded the en- 
dowment granted by the U. S. to the latter, and wisely render- 
ed financial aid so that, even in its infancy, under thirty years 
of age, with an income of over $60,000 per annum, it is on the 
high road to distinction among the best colleges of the land ; 
when the State University with a much larger original endow- 
ment is now, at the age of 75 years, and has been, for a long 
period, struggling to maintain a bare existence as an Academic 
Hall, with a pitiful annual income of $24,000. We ask this 
comparison in no spirit of envy. No, we rejoice that the 
State has kept faith w4th her Agricultural and Mechanical 
College, and that its prospects are so bright ; "for if we have 
none of that spirit which can exalt mortals to the skies, we 
thank God, we have none of that other spirit which would 
drag angels down." 

6. THE I.OSS TO THE UNIVERSITY BY GROSS NEGI.IGENCE 
AND MISAPPROPRIATION OF ITS ENDOWMENT EXCEEDS 
THE SUM OF TWO MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 

Having now presented these estimates of the loss sustained 
by the University, by virtue of these Relief Laws, and mis- 
management of the funds, one by an Attorney of eminence, 
who was paid by the University $20,000 for his services, the 
other by a Trustee of acknowledged abilit}^ and high integrity, 
and one by the first newspaper of an adjoining State, I now 
present an estimate made by mj-self. During the quarter of a 
century during which I have served the institution as Treas- 
urer,, I have become quite familiar with its past trials and 
wrongs, and although my estimate of the wrongs of the Uni- 
uersity from relief laws, mismanagement and misappropriations 
of its funds b}^ the Legislature exceeds largely the other esti- 
mates in amount, still I feel satisfied that no Chancellor in the 
State will deny the equity of any item claimed; nor can any 



accountant disprove the correctness of the calculation. The 
friends of the Universit}' can rely upon this estimate as a fair, 
just, and correct presentation of the equitable claim which that 
institution holds against the State of Alabama, and is as 
follows : — 



1836. 



To amount loss by relief laws, forfeit- 
ures, re-sales, and leases, - $144,239.18 
" half amount fees paid Att'y Porter, 10,000.00 



Jan. I. " to total loss on account as above, - $154,239.18 
1846. 

Jan. I. " Int. for 10 3'rs. at 6 pr. ct to Jan. i,'46, 92,543.50 
" Profits made by bank prior to 1837, 

over and above 6 per cent. , - - - 108,962.00 



Total loss up to Jan. 1,1846, - - 355,744.68 
Less amount notes due the bank, 64,500.00 



1866. Lost to Univ. after paying bank debt, 291,244.68 
Jan. I. To int. 6 pr' ct. to Jan. i, 1866, 20 yrs. , 349,493.61 
1884. 



Jan. I. To amount lost at this date, - - - - 640,738.29 

" int. 6 pr. ct. to Jan. i, 1884, 18 yrs., 691,997.35 

1896. • ' 



Amount loss to date. - - 1,332,735.64 

Jan. I. " int. to Jan. i, 1896, 6 pr. ct. , 12 yrs , 959,569.66 

Total equitable claim of the University, - $2,292,305.30 

Charging the State, in the above .account, with the profits 
made by the Bank prior to 1837, over and above the six per 
cent, which had been paid to the Trustees, is equitable and 
just. The Legislature admitted its justice, for by an act ap- 
proved December 23rd, 1837, the profits thereafter made, by 
the Bank on University funds, were required to be paid to the 
Trustees ; thus recognizing the right to the profits which had 
been made previous to 1837, but which were retained by the 



45 

State. (See acts of the General Assembly 1837, page 32. ) 

ESTIMATE OF THE CLAIM OF THE UNIVERSITY AGAINST THE 
STATE IN 1886 BY J. H. FITTS, TREASURER OF UNIVERSITY. 

In my estimate I have not allowed the State a credit, for the 
loan of $30,000 in 1866-67, ^^^^ the donation of $60,000 in 
1884. Which amounts were used in restoring about one-third 
of the buildings, destroyed by the Federal forces, in conse- 
quence of the Universit}^ being converted, by the State, into a 
millitary school for the training of soldiers for the war. If, 
however, it should be thought equitable to allow this loan and 
donation as credits, the estimate would be as follows : 
1836. 
Jan. I. To amount, loss by relief laws, forfeitures, 

resales and loans, ----- $144,239.18 
Jan. I. To half am't fee paid B. F. Porter, - 10,000.00 



1846. 154,239.18 

Jan. I. int. for 10 years at 6 per cent., - - 92,543.50 
Jan. I. Profits made by the Bank prior to 1837 

over and above 6 per cent., - - - 108,962.00 



$355,744-68 
Jan. I. By amount of notes due the Bank, - 64,500.00 



1866. $291,244.68 

Jan. I. To int. at 6 per ct. to this date, 20 yrs, 349,493.61 



$640,738.29 
By loan in 1866-67, " ■ - " - 30,000.00 



1884.- $610,738.29 

Jan. I. To int. at 6 per cent, to date, 18 yrs, 659,597.35 



$1,270,335.64 
By amount of loan in 1883-84, - - - 60,000.00 



1896. $1,210,335.64 

Jan. I. To int. to date at 6 per ct. 12 yrs, - 871,441.66 



$2,081,777.30 



46 

THE STATE IS JUSTLY LIABLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 
UNIVERSITY PROPERTY BY THE FEDERAL ARMY IN 1 865. 

In April 1848, a heavy loss befell the Universit}^ by two of 
the Professor's houses being destroyed b}^ fire ; these buildings 
were worth $10,000. On April 4, 1865, the Rotunda, with the 
Library of 25,000 volumes, the four Dormitories — Washington, 
Jefferson, Madison and Franklin, with the Lyceum were burn- 
ed by the Federal troops, entailing a loss on the University, 
estimated at $300,000.00. In considering the duty of the State 
to her University, these losses should not be overlooked, espe- 
cially the latter, for it was in consequence of the military fea- 
ture of the institution, that those buildings were destroyed, 
and this military feature was engrafted upon the University 
by the Legislature of Alabama in 1859-60, to provide the 
means for defense for the State in case of emergency. This 
military feature was not necessary for carrying out the pur- 
pose of the trust, which was the support of a "seminary of 
learning," and its addition in 1859-60, certainly caused the 
destruction of this $300,000 worth of property, in 1865. After 
the close of the war, the financial condition of the State was 
such that the Legislature could do very little in aiding to re- 
store the buildings which had been destroyed by the Union 
Army, but it provided for a loan of $70,000 by an act which 
was passed in November 1865, for the purpose of enabling the 
Trustees to rebuild. The act required that one-half of the in- 
terest which the State pays on the $300,000 endowment, 
should, after three years, be withheld by the State, until the 
loan and interest thereon should be paid. I was a member of 
the Board of Trustees and assisted in negotiating this loan, and 
as Fiscal Agent, and a member of the Buliding Committee, 
obtained and paid out the amount received on this loan which 
was only $30,000. 

The struggle and trials of the Board of Trustees in the re- 
building and reorganizing the University from 1866 to 1880, 
were great and onerous. It was emphatically a struggle for 



47 

existence, and but for the active interest of Governor Patton 
and the financial assistance of a private citizen, the payments 
for building Wood's Hall could not have been met. In 1883, 
the number of cadets at the University exceeded the means of 
accommodation, four students frequently were required to 
occupy one room. The entire income of the institution was 
needed to pay the officers and Professors, and having no funds 
with which to provide additional Dormitories, a strong and 
persistent appeal was made to the Legislature by a committee 
of the Board of Trustees, and a committee of Alumni, and the 
sum of $60,000 was obtained. This amount was expended in 
erecting Manly and Clark Halls. 

8. THE MANAGKMKNT OF THE LANDS GRANTED TO THE 
UNIVERSITY BY THE U. S. IN 1 884 CONTRASTED 
WITH THE MANNER IN WHICH THE ORIGI- 
NAL LAND GRANT WAS MANAGED. 

"By an act of Congress, approved April 23, 1884, the State 
of Alabama was empowered, to locate for the benefit of the 
University 46,080 acres of the public lands within the State, to 
be applied to the erection of suitable buildings for the Univer- 
sity, and to the restoration of the Library and scientific ap- 
paratus, heretofore destroyed by fire, the surplus, if any, to 
increase the endowment of the University. Under the author- 
ity conferred by this act, the Governor appointed three Com- 
missioners, Hon. A. C. Hargrove, Prof. Eugene A. Smith and 
J. B. Moore, Esq., to make selections of said land," and said 
lands have been judiciously located in the mineral region of 
the State, embracing in the selection some of the best coal 
lands. The General Assembly, by act approved February 5, 
1885, turned over the further management of these lands to 
the Board of Trustees, who at their meeting, in June, 1885, 
passed an ordnance for the sale of so mnch of said lands as the 
great needs of the University required. The ordinance pro- 
vided for the election of a land Commissioner, and a committee 
of three Trustees, to be styled the "Committee on the Univer- 



f.8 

sity Land Grant" — said committee to be elected annually. 
Hon. A. C Hargrove was elected land commissioner, and the 
fidelit}^ with which he discharged all the duties pertaining to 
that office, as long as he lived, attest the wisdom of the choice. 
The necessities of the University were such that 14, 296.02 ^/^ 
acres of these lands have been sold. The records of the lands 
granted by Congress in 1884, stand in marked contrast with 
the records of the original land grant in 18 19. The books and 
maps of the institution relating to the former, kept by Col. A. 
C. Hargrove, Land Commissioner, show every fraction of an 
acre which has been sold, at what price, and to whom sold, 
and that every cent was deposited, as required by law, in the 
State Treasury, and they also show every acre remaining un- 
sold. There are 31,783.97^ acres still on hand, which the 
Board of Trustees have determined to hold until better prices 
can be realized, in order that the endowment fund may be 
largely increased. All the money which could be realized 
from the sale of the lands, without too great a sacrifice, has 
been used in the construction of Garland Hall, Tuomey Hall, 
the Chemical Laborator}', Barnard Hall, the Philosophical 
Laboratory, and eight houses for the Professors, and in fur- 
nishing the institution with chemical and philosophical ap- 
paratus, and supplying it with Electric-works, a Laundry and 
Water- works. As Treasurer of the University, I .submitted to 
the Board of Trustees a condensed statement of the receipts 
and disbursements from the proceeds of those lands up to 15th 
of June, 1896, and here present the same for your information. 



49 



STATEMENT OF RECEIPS AND DISBURSEMENTS FROM 

THE LANDS GRANTED BY CONGRESS IN li 



From the University fund to locate these lands, - $1,500.00 
From Treasurer, proceeds sales, interest on notes 

and royalt}^, - - - . - - - 195,216.46 



$196,716.46 

DISBURSEMENTS. 

To Comm's — Smith and Moore — locating lands, - $2,000.00 

" Advertising, Printing and Record Books, - 175-35 

" Express charges on funds, - - - 151.68 

" Ditching University grounds, - - - 41.50 

" Repairs at University, _ . - _ 367.52 

" Expenses of Land Grant Committee, - - 401.08 

" Law Librar}^, - - - - - - 138.67 

" A. C. Hargrove's salary as Commissioner 

and expenses, 12 j^ears, . _ . _ 13,706.42 

" University Fund account, - - - - 16,280.54 

" Building Fund account, . . . _ 160,388.97 

" Prof. E. A. Smith, - - - - - 16.50 

" Cash on hand June 15, 1896, - - - 3,048.23 



$196,716.46 



From its organization up to the present time our University 
has been thus hampered and crippled, either by a want of the 
necessary funds to provide suitable buildings, or for adding 
Professional Schools, by w^hich the number of students would 
be largely increased. Owing to this want of numbers there 
has been a strong disposition, on the part of many of our citi- 
zens, to find fault with everything connected with our Univer- 
sity; those complaints are not specific but of a general charac- 
ter, claiming that something is wrong or we would have five 
hundred students at the institution. Some believe that the 
military system is the cause of the limited number who attend, 
and these have petitioned for its discontinuance. Let every 



50 

friend of the Universit}^ full}- investigate the. cause of the fail- 
ure to obtain the large patronage, and insist upon the remedy 
being applied. If they will undertake this investigation, they 
should visit the University during term time, see how the 
various branches of knowledge are taught, which the institu- 
tion, in its catalogue, claims to teach, and the discipline which 
is enforced. If the}' will do this, I think they will come to the 
conclusion that the Universit}' is now offering the best facilities, 
in all the academic studies, it is possible to give, with its limit- 
ed means, and that it can do no more with its limited income 
of $24,000 per annum — no matter whether the military or non- 
millitar}^ system is adopted ; no matter how able and zealous 
the Board of Trustees, or how wise and learned the Faculty. 
The Academic Department will compare favorably in numbers 
and in every other respect with that of the best inititutions of 
the country. We must remember chat it is not tlie students 
in the Academic Department of a University which largely 
swell the number attending, but the students attending the 
many professional schools. With the exception of a Law 
Department and an Engineering Department our University 
has no professional schools, and is simply (for want of means) 
an Academic Hall — a college. We have a University onl}' in 
name, because the great State of Alabama has deprived her of 
the means of becoming a University in fact. We may rest 
assured we can never have large numbers in attendance until 
our College or Academic Hall expands into a University in 
fact, or the College degenerates to the level of a primary or 
elementary school. I trust the people of the State will never 
consent to the latter. The real cause of most, if not all the 
complaints against the Universit}' will be found now, as they 
were in 1843, to be from a total inadequacy of endowment. 
The Board of Trustees have no means with which to build up 
a great seminary of learning, and the Legislature of Alabama, 
the chosen Trustee of the fund, is to blame ; for its means 
were not only mismanaged and misappropriated by relief laws 
for the financial relief of its citizens, but were used for specu- 



51 

lating in Bank stock for the purpose of supplying its citizens 
with cheap money, and the State is bound by ev^ery considera- 
tion of justice, equit}^ and honor to restore the amount thus 
used and misappropriated. 

I was a member of the Board of Trustees in 1866, when the 
plans for rebuilding were under discussion. The plan of which 
Wood's Hall was a part, was designed with a magnificent front 
building — estimated to cost $200,000, to be erected in the 
future. Objection w^as made to this plan, because of the cost 
of the front building; it was asked, '"When would the Univer- 
sity ever have the means of erecting such a building?" In 
answering this question, that eminent Jurist, Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court, the Hon. A. J. Walker, reviewed the 
claims of the University against the State, and ended by say- 
ing that it was certain that at some da}', in the not ver}^ dis- 
tant future the State of Alabama would rise to an equitable 
settlement with her University, and then the institution would, 
from her" magnificent endowmient, scarcely feel the loss of the 
$200,000.00. The sentiments of the Chief Justice were con- 
curred in by all the Trustees, among whom were Robert M. 
Patton, then Governor of the State; Thomas J. Judge and 
William M. Byrd, Associate Justices of the Supreme Court; 
Hon. Francis Bugbee, Hon. Porter King, Hon. Wm. S. Mudd, 
Hon. Robert Jemison, Jr., and Hon. Walter H. Crenshaw^ 
All of whom are now numbered among the dead. The plan 
w^as adopted on the belief of those eminent citizens that there 
was no doubt of the future recognition and adjustment of the 
claim of the University against the State. 

10. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE STATE CAN REPAY THE 
UNIVERSITY FOR THIS HEAVY LOSS, NOT ONLY WITH- 
OUT ANY SACRIFICE, BUT ACTUALLY WITH 
GREAT PROFIT TO HER CITIZENS. 

The time has now arrived w^hen the State can repay this 
great wrong to her University, which these eminent citizens 
believed she would do, not onl}' without loss, but with great 



53 

profit and benefit to herself. Two methods of State aid for the 
Universit}' have beeti suggested, one by a member of the Board 
of Trustees and the other by myself. The adoption of both, 
would prove highly beneficial to the State, and carrying them 
into effect, would be regarded by all the alumni and other 
friends of the University as a full and complete settlement of 
all claims against the State. I here present these plans. 

1st. For the State to work or mine the University coal 
lands with its able bodied convict In.bor and pay the University 
a reasonable royalty. This would enable the State to have 
constant charge and supervision of her convicts, and thus to 
be able to properly protect them from overwork and ill treat- 
ment, and properly care for them when sick. This would be 
a very great gratification to a large class of citizens who have 
been appealing for better treatment and protection for the 
State convicts. The State could easily make a better profit by 
working the able bodied convict men in the coal mines than by 
hiring them to corporations for that purpose, and pay the 
University a reasonable royalty in addition. The State is now 
making provision to work the women and children in cotton 
factories, and her weak and sickly male convicts on the farm ; 
and b}' providing this work in the University coal mines for 
the able bodied healthy men, she would have an admirable and 
profitable convict system. 

The other plan is for the State to settle her entire indebted- 
ness to her University, including the present endowment of 
$300,000.00 by acknowledging a debt of $2,000,000, and if 
legal, issue bonds for the same. The debt or bonds to bear 
three (3) per cent, interest and to be paj^able semi-annually. 
This settlement to be made by the State on the expressed con- 
dition, that one- third of the interest from the debt or bonds 
shall be used by the Board of Trustees in maintaining and 
educating at the University, one young man or woman, of 
good moral character, in indigent circumstances, from each 
county in the State, upon their entering into an agreement to 
teach school in the State for three years after graduation, 



53 

wherever the State Superintendent of Education may direct, 
at salaries of $400 each. This will place it in the power of 
each to repay the University and thus obliterate the otherwise 
unpleasant recollection of having been a scholar by charity. 
In addition to the amount necessary to maintain and educate 
these sixty-six students, the University would receive $40,- 
000.00 and the royalty from the coal mined, which would be 
sufficient for establishing other professional schools, that w^ould 
largely increase its patronage and income. The law should 
provide that the students should be selected by a fair com- 
petitive written examination, and the places awarded by the 
Faculty of the University upon the merits of the examination 
papers, without knowing, if possible, the names of any of the 
applicants. 

If this system of educating the 3"oung men and women was 
adopted, the cry of "educating the rich at the expense of the 
poor" would never again be heard, for it would render the in- 
stitution dear to the hearts of all. It would become the object 
of love and affection by many. Educated men would soon be 
located in every county in the State, as teachers, who would 
feel a lively interest in their Alma Mater. An impulse would 
be given to the cause of education in the Public Schools which 
would be felt throughout the State. The Public Schools would 
be more benefitted under the successful working of this system, 
than by distributing over the State twice this amount for 
school purposes. In no other way could $20,000.00 be better 
used for the building up of the Public Schools. Education 
trickles downward; it rarely climbs upward. A thousand Pub- 
lic Schools would never make a Universit}^ but a University 
working on this system would make a thousand Public Schools 
in no great period of time. 

Gentleman of the Legislature, with you alone rests the 
power of applying these remedies and redressing these wrongs. 
The Alumni of the institution beg of you to remember, that 
these lands were donated by Congress for the sole purpose of 
establishing "a seminary of learning." The territorial con- 



54 

vention pledged, in the fundamental law, the constitution of 
the State, that the funds arising from the sale of these lands, 
should be, and remain a fund "for the exclusive support of a 
State University." The General Assembly of Alabama which 
convened in October, i8 19, accepted these lands, in trust, for 
that purpose, and pledged the faith and credit of the State for 
its faithful execution. Then we beg you to remember that the 
lands, the funds and the property of the University, were used 
and appropriated by subsequent Legislatures, more for the sup- 
posed benefit of the citizens of the State, than for building up 
"a seminary of learning," or maintaining the University of 
Alabama. For the benefit of citizens who had purchased lands, 
which afterwards declined in value, relief laws were passed, 
cancelling .1144,239.18 of well secured notes belonging to the 
institution. "To secure to the community the benefits," these 
are the very words in the preamble of the act, a Bank was or- 
ganized largely, if not entirely, with funds belonging to the 
University, and that previous to 1837, the State received 
profits from this investment amounting to $108,962.00, which 
in equity belonged to the Universit3^ 

To provide for the public welfare in j 859-60, it was thought 
necessary, that the State should be prepared for war to enforce 
by arms the doctrine of secession if the then contemplated 
Confederacy was established ; a militar}' department was or- 
ganized at the University and the cadets of the institution were 
made a part of the militia of the State, in consequence of which 
$300,000.00 worth of the property of the institution was 
destroyed . 

Some of you, gentlemen, may be aspiring to political dis- 
tinction, I ask 3'ou to remember, that dangerous irniovation in 
politics are frequently attempted to be substituted for princi- 
ples, which theory and experience have demonstrated to be 
founded in truth. If you would be patriots indeed stand by 
these great principles, lead public opinion in the paths of equity 
and honor, and then you will be statesmen indeed. Wipe out 
the memory of these Legislative enormities, build for 3'our 
State a really great University conuiiensurate with the magni- 
tude of the delegated trust fund, and the growing demand of 
your State — and thus you will build for yourselves enduring 
fame and leave monuments of your worth more lasting than 
marble or brass. 

J. H. FiTTS, Chairman. 

Tuscaloosa, Ala., October 12, 1896. 



/ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 921 034 



